The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

and NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

Realtors last night described the Government's revised plans to increase the permanent residency threshold by 50 per cent, from $500,000 to $750,000, as "bad news" and something to "head off".

Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, yesterday told the Nassau Conference that while the Minnis administration would not go as far as its predecessor, which wanted to raise the bar to $1 million, it was still planning reform.

He said: "On the issue of permanent residency, I think we have agreed to take that bar from $500,000 to $750,000 for the right of applying." He added that the Government will also re-institute the fast-tracking of applications for those those buying property worth $1.5 million or more - an initiative introduced under the former Ingraham administration in 2011.

That saw the then-government commit to reviewing such applications within 21 days of receipt. Mr Symonette yesterday said the Government will look at permanent residency as not solely tied to the purchase of a residence or real estate, but other investments, such as the purchase of financial instruments such as bonds or Treasury Bills.

A senior realtor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business that the industry and associated professions, such as developers, needed to lobby the Government for a rethink on the proposed $750,000 threshold.

"It's not personal to me, because I'm not involved in construction at that price point, but the concern is there are so many other options than the Bahamas," the realtor replied, when informed of Mr Symonette's comments.

"We love to think this is our country and Bahamians come first, but we need foreign money coming in. It's as simple as that. There are so many other countries out there to go to, and we have to respect that.

"People fail to realise we're not the only game in town. It's bad news. We need to try and head that off."

The Christie administration had proposed increasing the permanent residency threshold to $1 million, but also received considerable push back from the real estate sector and developers.

They were especially concerned about the proposed policy change, given the importance of the second home market to their industries and the wider Bahamian economy.

With the Bahamian segment relatively flat, the second home sector has been one that realtors have been able to rely on to generate sales momentum over the past few years.

With 80 per cent of real estate sales inventory priced below $1 million, they feared that any change - especially one that might be perceived negatively by foreign buyers - could drive a significant chunk of the market to other jurisdictions.

And a 'drying up' of such buyers would produce wider 'ripple effects' in the Bahamian economy, reducing work for the construction industry and a variety of other trades whose business is tied to the real estate and second home markets.

Mr Symonette, meanwhile, yesterday said the Government will look to revamp the Companies Register." We are going to look at the way the companies register works, revamp it and tweak it to make sure it is on par with other jurisdictions so we can get quick, efficient responses," he said.

The Financial Services Minister also raised the issue of liberalising the Bar to allow foreign specialist attorneys to practice in the Bahamas. "We have to deal with the question of the relaxation of the Bar," he said.

"If we are going to grow this economy we have to be able to - as we are trying to become an arbitration centre - bring in arbitrators or support services. I'm not talking about an entire opening of the Bar but a liberalisation of the Bar which would allow attorneys from around the world to come to the Bahamas and practice is specialised fields."

Mr Symonette addeds that a "serious" look must also be given to exchange control. "Exchange control has to be looked at seriously, not only from the exchange control side but also the regulatory side where persons may appear to be overstepping the mark, or we have moving targets or you are getting different opinions on the same subject on numerous occasions. All of that has to be looked at so we know that we are all on the same page," he said.

Mr Symonette said the Government has appointed a committee to examine 'the ease of doing business', chaired by Lynn Holowesko.

He told attendees there was a "disconnect" between public perception and the reality of how many Bahamians are employed in the financial services sector.

"I believe there is a disconnect as to the level of Bahamians versus non-Bahamians working in this industry," he said. "The other day Immigration decided to look at one of your offices to find out that 85 per cent if or more were Bahamians. We have to get this issue out in the forefront and discuss it so that the public understands that your industry hires a tremendous amount of Bahamians."